What began as part of genealogical research has become an appreciationfor the art that is an aged tombstone and the quiet beauty of a cemetery.

Saturday, November 24, 2012

Pilgrim Cemetery - Elkhart, Texas

Daniel Parker and a group of settlers from Crawford County, Illinois came to Texas in 1833, establishing the newly organized Pilgrim Regular Predestinarian Baptist Church with its adjacent cemetery. The log church pictured above is a replica of the original built in 1848 a short distance from the present day community of Elkhart in Anderson County, Texas. Pilgrim Church is reportedly the first Baptist church in Texas.

REV. DANIEL PARKER

Pioneer Baptist Minister
Born in Virginia
April 6, 1761
Died December 3, 1844

His Wife
PATSY DIXON PARKER
Born January 17, 1783
Died December 1, 1846

Daniel Parker's brother James was granted a league of land north of present Groesbeck, Texas on April 1, 1835. There he and other members of the Parker family established a fort on the headwaters of the Navasota River in current Limestone County. On May 19, 1836, the Parker family became famous when the inhabitants of the fort were massacred by Comanche indians. Daniel's brothers Silas and Benjamin Parker along with their father John were killed and five family members were taken as hostages. One of those hostages, Cynthia Ann Parker, lived with the Comanches for approximately 25 years and married chief Peta Nocoma. Cynthia Ann Parker and Peta Nocoma were parents of the famous Comanche chief Quanah Parker.